Page 11 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

x x List of Contributors

Bridgeman Communications in 1986, Roger worked for a number of
leading public relations firms and international corporations
including Ruder & Finn and General Electric. Roger holds a Bachelor
of Science degree in public relations from Boston University’s College
of Communication, where today he is on the part-time faculty teaching
Corporate Public Affairs in the graduate programme.

Marianne de Bruijn (The Netherlands) is an experi-
enced PR consultant working for ACA/JES
Communicatie (Amsterdam). Marianne studied com-
munication management at The Hague School of
European Studies and handles all kinds of PR and
communication projects, including crisis communica-
tion. She acted as the spokesperson for the insurance
company Ohra during the introduction of the new health insurance
system in The Netherlands. She fulfilled the same role for the credit
card company ING Card when credit card fraud cases or other issues
occurred. For ACA/JES she advised telecommunications firm KPN
Mobile in the campaign on UMTS. The campaign included informing
the public, local authorities and real estate owners about the technical
benefits of UMTS and reducing the public resistance towards UMTS.
She also led the crisis communication project concerning the closing of
a Dutch plant by a French company. This project was run in close
cooperation with the management of the company in The
Netherlands and France.

Willem Buitelaar (The Netherlands) has extensive
experience in public relations and media relations.
Before joining ACA/JES Communicatie (Amsterdam) as
a senior consultant PR/PA, he worked in several public
relations positions, in both the public and private sectors.
He has been Head of Public Relations and spokesman
for The Netherlands Board of Tourism (NBT), for which
he coordinated crisis communication programmes when the reputation
of The Netherlands as a tourist destination was at stake. Willem holds a
degree in French Language and Literature and Mass Communications
from the universities of Leiden and Utrecht (The Netherlands) and
counsels private national and international companies and govern-
mental bodies on general communication issues and recruitment PR.